Rachel Silverstein

Program: Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Current advisor: Drew Schwartz, MD, PhD

Undergraduate university: Washington University, 2022

Enrollment year: 2023

Research summary
Effect of preterm gut microbes on immune development and sepsis

Early life is a critical window for development of both the gut microbiome and the host immune system. However, early life is also a time of increased risk of infection, particularly bacterial bloodstream infection (BSI) which is a major cause of morbidity in preterm infants. Recent work in our lab has found that the gut microbiome in preterm infants can serve as a source of pathogenic bacteria that cause BSI. Further, we have found that the BSI-causing strain increases in abundance in the gut microbiome shortly before BSI onset, suggesting that an immune failure to control microbial replication and dissemination may underlie BSI. The goal of my project is to determine the impact that key members of the preterm gut microbiome have on immune development in early life.

Graduate publications